Safely backing up projects?

[irpacynot]

I try to clean out my music folders as often as possible, since working on a project requires so many WAV files. I was surprised, though, to see that the project folders were also pretty huge. I didn't really think about it, I guess. I assumed, like video-editing software, Waveform just called in files as needed, and the only thing being saved was instructional data.

So...

I'd like to back-up and then, more importantly, erase from my computer projects I'm done with for the time being. Of course, I don't wanna screw up the software. And if I ever wanna go back to a project and remaster or whatever, I'd like Waveform to be able to locate the necessary files from a DVD-RW.

Advice on how to do that safely?

[operandx]

I usually create an archive of an individual edit to kake sure all files referenced are there. File-> Create an archive of this edit

[irpacynot]

I usually create an archive of an individual edit to kake sure all files referenced are there. File-> Create an archive of this edit

Ah, okay. Thank you!

Is Waveform simply compressing the data, or is it saving instruction data and erasing the large files?

[operandx]

Ah, okay. Thank you!

Is Waveform simply compressing the data, or is it saving instruction data and erasing the large files?

I don't think this has ever been properly documented. There are options for how to compress (various types of lossy and lossless) and whether to export entire media files or only the parts being used in edit.

[irpacynot]

Ah, okay. Thank you!

Is Waveform simply compressing the data, or is it saving instruction data and erasing the large files?

I don't think this has ever been properly documented. There are options for how to compress (various types of lossy and lossless) and whether to export entire media files or only the parts being used in edit.

I see. Well, thank you. Perhaps this will be a more straightforward approach.

[irpacynot]

I usually create an archive of an individual edit to kake sure all files referenced are there. File-> Create an archive of this edit

All right...

So, I did that (did it within the "Projects" tab, since I don't have to open the actual project. I tried it with one project, it seems to have successfully archived it. Now...how do I delete the stuff I no longer need right now? Because, as of now, it's still taking about almost 5 gigs just for that one project.

[operandx]

I usually create an archive of an individual edit to kake sure all files referenced are there. File-> Create an archive of this edit

All right...

So, I did that (did it within the "Projects" tab, since I don't have to open the actual project. I tried it with one project, it seems to have successfully archived it. Now...how do I delete the stuff I no longer need right now? Because, as of now, it's still taking about almost 5 gigs just for that one project.

You can delete the contents of a project folder by right clicking the project name in the project list. That won't delete any external files that were referenced in the edit but not copied into the project, only ones in the project itself. I've used archives to move edits to a totally different machine and it worked fine.

[irpacynot]

You can delete the contents of a project folder by right clicking the project name in the project list. That won't delete any external files that were referenced in the edit but not copied into the project, only ones in the project itself. I've used archives to move edits to a totally different machine and it worked fine.

Okay...but before I do that, I'm wondering about the external files you mention. So, I archived a project, went into Windows File Explorer to see if the size of the import folder changed, and it did not. If I delete the contents of the project folder within Waveform, will that also delete the imports saved in Windows File Explorer?

[operandx]

You archive edits not projects. When you archive an edit you can specify where to save it. Projects may contain several edits so any you wanted kept should be archived. Alternatively there is the facility to backup an entire project, but it puts the backups in a subfolder in the project folder so deleting the project folder would delete the backups too. I've never really used the backup option (backups are made automatically anyway). I'm assuming that the backups don't include any data eg audio files so wouldn't be any use if you wanted to store elsewhere and later reuse. You could just copy the whole project folder to a backup location, which would I guess be fine if you had imported all the audio files into the project itself.

[operandx]

Actually, I see you can archive a project, doh! I always archive only edits.

Funny how you get used to one way of doing things and are blinkered to the obvious.

Anyway, I just tested a project archive and recreated the project as a new project and it included the imports folder and contents.

[irpacynot]

Ah, okay. So, with the project now archived, I should be okay to then delete all other folders and content (sans the archive folder, of course) within the project folder in File Explorer?

[operandx]

Ah, okay. So, with the project now archived, I should be okay to then delete all other folders and content (sans the archive folder, of course) within the project folder in File Explorer?

Yes, but I would maybe move/rename the project folder and then do a test restore of the archive just to be sure it's doing what you want.

[irpacynot]

Yes, but I would maybe move/rename the project folder and then do a test restore of the archive just to be sure it's doing what you want.

Ah, yes. Very good idea.

[irpacynot]

Ah, okay. So, with the project now archived, I should be okay to then delete all other folders and content (sans the archive folder, of course) within the project folder in File Explorer?

Yes, but I would maybe move/rename the project folder and then do a test restore of the archive just to be sure it's doing what you want.

Whelp, tried it this morning, and when going back in, all of the acoustic performances are showing that the tracks are missing. It shows a clip, but no signal and the clip says something to the effect "track missing" or something like that. I guess I didn't do it properly.

[operandx]

Ah, okay. So, with the project now archived, I should be okay to then delete all other folders and content (sans the archive folder, of course) within the project folder in File Explorer?

Yes, but I would maybe move/rename the project folder and then do a test restore of the archive just to be sure it's doing what you want.

Whelp, tried it this morning, and when going back in, all of the acoustic performances are showing that the tracks are missing. It shows a clip, but no signal and the clip says something to the effect "track missing" or something like that. I guess I didn't do it properly.

As I indicated earlier, I have typically archived single edits which have always created an archive with any recorded clips safely. I always make sure 'Include files from library projects' is checked and leave default compression method (Lossless approx 2:1) with handles of 1 second.

Edit - I just tried archiving a full project and it worked fine for recorded clips and any external wav files that had been copied to the project folder but I saw the 'file not found' on clips of files that hadn't been copied into the project folder on import. By default you will get a message on file import asking whether you want to copy the file into project folder (though this can be changed in settings->advanced).